Data Crunching for Year 8s
Year 8 students use statistical processes including data collection for the Census at Schools
Inspired by the work of the late Professor Hans Rosling and the Gapminder Foundation, Year 8 students have been looking at how data can help them to gain an informed world view. An important part of the statistical process is data collection; to this end, approximately 80 Year 8 students from across four Mathematics classes collected information on 30 variables ranging from height and wrist circumference to reaction times and ‘screen time’.
The data has been collated along with those of students from thousands of other students across the globe into an international database known as Census at Schools run by the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland. The students have shown much interest in trying to make sense of the data they have gathered and to see how they measure up with other students around the world. Who knows, the next Hans Rosling may well be among them!
